Back to School Issues For Working Parents

Workers are scrambling to prepare for back-to-school -- whether their children will be learning online, hybrid or in-person – but in most jurisdictions there is no legal obligation for employers to accommodate parents who cannot perform their job because of child care responsibilities. In its new report, XpertHR explores critical back-to-school challenges facing working parents and their employers:

Remote Work – “While remote work may be a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) if the employee’s own disability prevents them from coming to the workplace, there is no legal requirement that it be made available to employees with child care issues due to COVID-19. Nevertheless, many employers that had not previously considered a non-disability-related remote work option have since implemented this working arrangement,” explains Valentina Poletto, Assistant Editor, XpertHR.

Flexible Scheduling and Job Sharing – “A flexible schedule allows an employee to perform their duties in the workplace early in the morning, and/or late afternoon or evening, and then be at home to perform needed child care duties during the day. Job sharing may also be feasible if employees are available to work or telework for some portion of the day or have child care arrangements available on alternate days,” says Poletto.

Employer-Provided Paid Time Off – “An employee may be permitted to use accrued employer-provided paid time off for an absence related to a school or child’s place of care closure after the expiration of federal Emergency Paid Sick Leave,” explains Poletto.

Unpaid Leave – “An employer can extend an unpaid administrative leave of absence to an employee who is absent for COVID-19-related child care issues,” says Poletto.

Unexpected Absences – “Employers should have a return-to-work protocol for an employee exposed to a COVID-19-exposed or -positive child. For instance, an employer may require the employee to quarantine or to provide a negative test result,” Poletto explains.